Jere Lehtinen

Jere Kalervo Lehtinen (born June 24, 1973) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. A right winger, he was drafted in the third round, 88th overall, in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Lehtinen played his entire 15-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the North Stars/Dallas Stars organization. A two-way forward, Lehtinen is perhaps best known for his defensive responsibilities, for which he won the Frank J. Selke Trophy three times as the NHL's top defensive forward.

Playing career

Finland

Lehtinen started his career with his hometown team, Kiekko-Espoo. The team was jammed in first division in 1991 but they managed to win the division and gained a spot in the Finnish SM-liiga, from there Lehtinen started his professional career. He spent another year with Kiekko-Espoo, but the team struggled, and after one season, Lehtinen received an offer from one of the biggest clubs in Finland at the time, TPS in Turku. He signed with TPS in the summer of 1993 and once the season started, he soon blossomed offensively. Lehtinen was immediately paired with another future NHLer, Saku Koivu, and the two formed an integral part of TPS's great season. Although they won the regular season title by a large margin, they lost to Jokerit in the finals.

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Famous quotes by Jere Lehtinen:

"He's playing great. ... He gave us the confidence to play."
"He was good in the locker room. Between periods, you always knew what was wrong with our game. Whatever happened on the ice, he knew what to do right away. He could analyze the game pretty fast and quick."
"We almost let this one slip away. The first period, we came out hard, but we didn't play as hard in the second. They got the intensity, we lost the 1-on-1 battles and in the third we knew we had to play better."
"I thought that was it, because NHL players weren't in the Olympics. Then it changed, and I think it's a great thing. All the top players have a chance to be there. That's why it's so special."
"I've been to three Olympics before, and it's been great. It's different, every four years. You see and meet all the different athletes in the various sports – biathlon, ski jumping, cross country skiing. And everybody is living in the Olympic village."
"It was good for us. We've been struggling on the five-on-threes and we haven't been scoring much on the power play. Those goals were huge. Those led us to a win."
"It was good for us. We've been struggling on the 5-on-3s and we haven't been scoring much on the power play. Those goals were huge. Those led us to a win."
"We've got speed and I think we are using it very much to our advantage. But don't underestimate our talent level. We've got a lot of very good players. And we're confident like I have never seen us before."
"When we started right in the first game it was tough — no practices at all. But coming in we showed we could play as a team right away. The first game started the whole tournament."
"We came here as underdogs, but we had good teamwork. That's why we got here."
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